Oskar Lafontaine

On the 25th January 2015 the Greek people voted in an election of historic importance-not just for Greece but potentially all of Europe. The radical party Syriza was elected and austerity and the neoliberal agenda is being challenged. Suddenly it seems as if there is an alternative. But what? The Eurozone is in a deep and prolonged crisis. It is now clear that monetary union is a historic failure, beyond repair-and certainly not in the interests of Europe's working people. Building on the economic analysis of two of Europe's leading thinkers, Heiner Flassbeck and Costas Lapavitsas (a candidate standing for election on Syriza's list), Against the Troika is the first book to propose a strategic left-wing plan for how peripheral countries could exit the euro. With a change in government in Greece, and looming political transformations in countries such as Spain, this major intervention lays out a radical, anti-capitalist programme at a critical juncture for Europe. The final three chapters offer a detailed postmortem of the Greek catastrophe, explain what can be learned from it-and provide a possible alternative. Against the Troika is a practical blueprint for real change in a continent wracked by crisis and austerity.

1. This is one of the most controversial books published in Europe in the last decade. It was an enormous success in Germany and is being translated into many languages. 2. The inside story of why Oskar Lafontaine broke away from the third way politics of Schr?dera s government 3.

This is the English-language edition of what has become one of the most controversial books in German politics today. Oskar Lafontaine was the leader of Germany's Social Democratic party and finance minister in Gerhard Schr?der's government until he suddenly resigned in March 1999. Lafontaine's left-wing commitments brought him into conflict with Schr?der's endorsement of third way politics and with his attempt to remodel the SDP along the lines of Tony Blair's New Labour. The Heart Beats on the Left is the inside story of why Lafontaine broke with the SDP and Schr?der's government, and why he believed that the social and political costs of Schr?der's third way politics were too high. It is a merciless settling of scores in which the policies of Schr?der and his government are subjected to scathing criticism. But it is also the most sustained criticism of third way politics from a prominent political figure who stands on the left. A bestseller in Germany and already translated into many languages, this book is bound to be widely reviewed in English and to become a focal point for political debate about social democracy and its future.